• The Gauteng-wide training drive set to begin this Saturday is part of a larger nationwide drive to address unemployment.
• It is called the Unemployment Insurance Fund Labour Activation Programme and will see the training of over 700 000 people to the tune of R23.8 billion.
• Participants will receive training on how to run small businesses and also digital literacy skills.

On Saturday 6th April 2024, the Hoi Hoi Gauteng training drive begins across the province, where centres will be opened for unemployed people to sign up to take part in upskilling and training across a range of different subjects.

The drive is in the hopes of making people in the province more employable and includes training for those interested in:

• Entrepreneurship,
• Small business ownership,
• ICT and digital literacy,
• Infrastructure,
• Transporation,
• Digital services.

It was revealed by the Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on Thursday that the Gauteng drive is part of a larger, nationwide initiative being launched by government this year.

It is called the Unemployment Insurance Fund Labour Activation Programme (LAP), and will be aimed at giving UIF beneficiaries and young people without jobs the skills to find employment or start their own businesses.

Nxesi says that government will spend R23.8 billion on the plan, which is expected to train 704 000 unemployed people across 12 to 36 months. The first rollout of the plan will be in Gauteng on 6th April 2024.

The minister added that government believes the drive will produce real employment opportunities for participants.

“There are necessary controls in place, there is capacity and necessary resources in place, and these programmes produce the real outcomes in terms of the jobs and at a perineural scheme or prospect,” explained Nxesi.

“Employability interventions are delivered through contracts with the condition that they guaranteed jobs for beneficiaries with a minimum period of employment of one year post-intervention.”

Here’s when the Gauteng training drive will be expanded to other provinces

The Gauteng launch this weekend will be followed by:

• KwaZulu-Natal on 16th April,
• Western Cape on 17th April,
• Eastern Cape on 19th April,
• Free State on 22nd April,
• North West on 23rd April,
• Mpumalanga on 24th April,
• Limpopo on 30th April,
• and Northern Cape will be the last on 9th May 2024.

According to Nxesi, there are 333 projects that will provide training, small enterprise support and employment opportunities.

Right now there is yet to be an online portal where people can sign up to take part in the UIF LAP, but according to the Gauteng provincial government, online portals, community centres and local government offices will serve as registration hubs when the first phase of the programme begins in Gauteng.

You can register for the programme by filling in your details and following the instructions here.

[Source – SA News]